Monday, February 4, 2013

Crafty Kelsey: Chalkboard Invitations

Everyone that has ever planned a party knows that if you don't watch it, you will quickly develop an irreparable hole in your pocket. The little stuff adds up super fast and before you know it you've dropped hundreds on just a small family get together. Well as you know, Kollyns 2nd birthday is fast approaching and as I was spending and spending and spending...my inner frugalista was crying and crying and crying. So I started thinking. And then I made a list of the things I could get away with using an 'el cheapo' approach versus the things that I would just have to splurge on. Guess what? The first thing that came to my mind were the invitations. Of course I could go on Shutterfly and order some cute photo invitations at $1.49 a pop x 40. Which adds up to about $60. OR I could channel crafty Kelsey and get creative. Oh yes, I was on a mission and boy did I get lucky. I randomly popped in the TJ Maxx this past Tuesday and hit the jackpot. I had been looking for glass apothecary jars with tops to use for Kollyns' candy bar and online they were running at about $16- $32 a piece plus an outrageous shipping and handling charge because they are so fragile. Well you wouldn't believe this but my favorite store had a huge shelf of them in an assortment of sizes for $6.99-$16.99(for a HUGE jar) and I didn't have to pay shipping! Jackpot!!! So then I start browsing the stationary aisle and they had these ridiculously adorable brown paper thank you notes with a neon K on them! $3.99 for a pack of 50! Are you kidding me? I literally squealed with excitement. I brought those bad boys home & started trying to figure out how I could make them super cute. I tried a white paint pen which faded out and looked cruddy. Then I tried metallic silver and gold pens and they barely showed up on the paper. I was getting so sad. Crafty Kelsey loses again. Wahhh. Then I opened the cabinet and saw my leftover quart of RustOleum Chalkboard Paint and a fab idea hit me. I made myself a little heart stencil and painted a heart shaped chalkboard on each thank you note and wrote the info in chalk on the invitations. They turned out super cute. But now I can only hope that it doesn't rain when my little jewels are being delivered or no one will know when the actual party is haha! It's a good thing everyone that's invited has my number so they can call and ask what the heck the chalky mess is supposed to say! Even though there are risks with this little bright idea, I'm going for it! At less than $0.08 per invitation...what do I have to lose?